The Kitchn Archive: Jul 2015

Salad dressing can sometimes seem like an afterthought, something to quickly pick up at the supermarket while we focus more on the greens and toppings. But think about it this way: Dressing is like the music score to a movie, the undercurrent that weaves its way through the entire experience. A good dressing, like a good music score, works with every part of the salad and rounds everything out into a complete package, so it’s worth a little bit more attention.

When my niece announced her wedding date, I knew I wanted to give her an extra-special gift. Without thinking too much about it, I called her up and volunteered to make her wedding cake. She was thrilled, and we immediately began to discuss possibilities, but when I hung up the phone 10 minutes later, my first thought was, “What I have I gotten myself into?” My impulse to offer the cake was pure, but the reality and responsibility of making a wedding cake hit me like a ton of bricks.

If you have a big pot of soup or a lot of leftover casserole, you can pat yourself on the back that you’ve now got a quick meal waiting in the fridge. But just how many times can you reheat those leftovers safely? As long as you reheat the leftovers to at least 165°F each time, the food’s technically safe to eat.

Q: I accidentally bought four pounds of salted butter through a delivery service and I can’t return it. I’m practicing baking a wedding cake, and the recipe calls for unsalted butter. I know I can freeze butter, but there is no way I would consume so much butter from day-to-day cooking or baking — I try to eat a healthy diet. Should I play around with the salt ratio in the wedding cake recipe and use the salted butter when I bake the final cake, or can I donate it?

Most of us get away with making meringues and egg white foams in clean, stainless steel bowls, yet chefs insist copper is better, and have done so for hundreds of years. Is there a scientific reason behind using copper bowls to whip egg whites? As you beat those whites, the whipping action of your whisk forces the tangled and tightly clumped proteins in the egg whites to unfold and loosen up from each other.

Q: I am setting up a home bar for the first time and would like recommendations on what types of liquors and other ingredients would make for a good “starter bar,” with sufficient versatility but not a lot of things that would just sit around unused. We like gin-based drinks (Beehive is a great local gin for us), and my husband likes scotch. We’re interested in trying vodka-based drinks too, but rum is generally a bit sweet for us. Any recommendations to get us started?

Some people might find that radishes are too spicy and intense for them in their raw state. While you can cook or roast the radishes to mellow them out, here’s an easy step you can take to help tame the spicy bite so you can use them with abandon in your next salad! This tip comes from Cara Mangini, author of upcoming book The Vegetable Butcher and the star of our recent Vegetable Butcher series: “If you can’t take the heat, peel your radishes.

Q: A few months ago, I went strawberry picking and ended up freezing the majority of the strawberries to use throughout the year. I froze some whole berries, but also made four cups of strawberry puree. I was wondering if you had any recipes suggestions that call for puree. Thanks! Sent by Jess Editor: Homemade strawberry puree sounds like a marvelous treat.

Just as some people have the genes that make them more sensitive to bitter flavors, scientists have discovered that the same applies to one of the other tastes: sweet. Researchers asked subjects, both twins (with the idea that twins have at least half to almost all of the same genes) and non-twins, to rate the sweetness intensity of two natural and two artificial sugars.

Ever bite into a carrot only to have your mouth suddenly filled with the taste of soap? No, that’s not because you forgot to rinse your carrots before dipping them in your hummus — there’s actually a very simple scientific explanation for this phenomenon. No, your carrots haven’t been washed in Palmolive, although it might taste like it. And it doesn’t mean you need to wash your carrots before diving in, either.

You might want to sit down for this. What I’m about to say might make you feel like the rug is getting pulled out from under your feet, like everything you’ve known to be good and true in the world is a complete lie. Strawberries – those sweet, bright-red summer fruits you love so much — are not actually berries. You might be surprised, however, by some of the other foods that are technically berries. Let’s start by taking a step back.

Q: My husband and I are moving next month, and I have a frozen turkey in the freezer that I’d like to use up before we go. I’d like to throw one last dinner party for some friends, but I need help finding a summer-appropriate turkey recipe that doesn’t scream Thanksgiving. I know deep-frying is an option, but I don’t have a deep-fryer and I’m a little afraid of all that hot oil.

Item: RawSpiceBar Spice Blend Subscription Price: $6/month Overall Impression: If you’re an adventurous home cook and like trying new things, RawSpiceBar is an inexpensive way to expand your repertoire. The spices are fresh and paired with global recipes hand-selected by chefs that celebrate the culture that inspired the spice blends.

Q: Is it okay to set aside bread dough before the last rise, and then come back to the process? Since time can be so precious for a lot of us, I find that if I could halt my bread making and then continue it later, I might make more of it. I don’t always have the four hours or so to devote in one block of time. Sent by Barbara Editor: My favorite shortcut is to let the first rise occur overnight in the refrigerator, rather than on the counter.

Q: I’m a surgical resident and I’m frequently on call at the hospital with little time to spare in between cases, so I rarely get to sit down to eat dinner (even a quick one!). The only fridge is nowhere near the ORs, plus there isn’t usually time to run down and heat up food to eat. On the off chance there is time between cases, its usually a greasy, expensive meal from the cafeteria.

Tired of just grilling hamburgers or hot dogs this summer? Ready to try something different than grilled steak? Consider a juicy cut of beef that’s usually reserved for cold-weather braising instead: short ribs. Trust me, they’re worth throwing on the barbecue! Short ribs are usually reserved for braising because they contain a lot of muscle and tendon that needs moist, low heat and a lot of time to cook until tender.

The concept of leftover ice cream is probably foreign to many. It’s just too delicious leave some behind, right? But if you’ve exercised some restraint, here’s the best way to keep the freezer burn away from your beloved ice cream, especially if it’s homemade! Air is the enemy of ice cream, as the surface of ice cream develops ice crystals if left unexposed. The easy solution? Make a barrier between the air and the ice cream.